Xenopus fibrinogen synthesis and secretion. Analysis of precursor polypeptides and their post-translational modification

Characterization of a chicken hepatoma cell line with a specific defect in fibrinogen secretion

This study characterizes plasma protein synthesis and its hormonal regulation in a chicken hepatoma cell line, with particular emphasis on fibrinogen. Whereas virtually all aspects of hemopexin, transferrin and albumin production in these cells corresponded to those of cultured primary hepatocytes, fibrinogen was not secreted. Analysis of fibrinogen subunit synthesis revealed a specific defect in synthesis of one subunit, gamma, correlating with a lack of its mRNA. Pulse-chase and electron microscopic studies demonstrate that, despite the inability of these cells to secrete the A alpha and B beta subunits produced, there is no long-term accumulation of unsecreted fibrinogen. The B beta fibrinogen subunits are largely degraded 2 hr after synthesis. During this time, approximately half of the A alpha subunits are degraded; the rest are converted to the glycosylated form. The implications of this type of defect with respect to the pathogenesis of fibrinogen storage disease are discussed.

Molecular cloning of cDNA for the B beta subunit of Xenopus fibrinogen, the product of a coordinately-regulated gene family

Fibrinogen, the principal blood-clotting protein, is made up of three different subunits synthesized in the liver. In vitro administration of glucocorticoids to liver cells from the frog Xenopus laevis causes a dramatic increase in fibrinogen synthesis. Investigations of molecular mechanisms underlying this hormonal stimulation at the mRNA level require cDNA clones complementary to the mRNAs coding for the three fibrinogen subunits, called A alpha, B beta, and gamma. We describe here the isolation and characterization of cDNA clones for the B beta subunit of Xenopus fibrinogen. cDNA libraries in both plasmid (pBR322) and phage (lambda gt10) cloning vectors were constructed from frog liver mRNA and screened with a rat B beta cDNA. Clones thus isolated hybridized to two Xenopus liver mRNAs 2500 and 1800 bases long, the previously-determined sizes for B beta mRNAs. The identity of the plasmid clone B beta-27 was confirmed by hybridization-selection of complementary mRNA which translated in vitro into the B beta polypeptide, as determined by size and susceptibility to thrombin cleavage. lambda/B beta 10, a clone representing nearly all of the 2500-base B beta mRNA, was isolated from the phage cDNA library. The 3'-end of this clone includes a polyadenylation signal about 20 residues upstream of a stretch of 34 adenosine residues, which probably represents the 3'-poly(A) tail of the messenger RNA. lambda/B beta 10 lacks only 20 nucleotides of full-length B beta mRNA at the 5'-end and there is one major start site of transcription. The 2500-base B beta mRNA has a 700-base extension at the 3'-end that is not present in the 1800-base mRNA. The Xenopus laevis genome contains two or three genes for the B beta fibrinogen subunit. Using the cDNA clone as a probe, B beta mRNA was shown to be induced at least 20-fold by glucocorticoid treatment of purified parenchymal cells of Xenopus liver maintained in primary culture.

Isolation and characterization of cDNA clones for the gamma subunit of Xenopus fibrinogen, the product of a coordinately regulated gene family

Fibrinogen, the major structural protein involved in blood coagulation, is synthesized and secreted by the liver. In the frog Xenopus laevis, fibrinogen production is dramatically induced by glucocorticoids. The hormonal stimulation requires synthesis of three separate subunits, designated A alpha, B beta, and gamma. For investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying this coordinate induction, we have isolated cDNA clones for the subunits of Xenopus fibrinogen. In this communication we describe the identification of clones for the gamma chain. Initially, a Xenopus liver cDNA library in pBR322 was screened with a rat gamma chain cDNA and a clone representing half of the 1600-base frog gamma mRNA was identified. This clone was shown to be complementary to gamma mRNA by hybrid selection of mRNA that translated in vitro into the gamma polypeptide. A clone about 1460 base pairs in length was then isolated from a Xenopus liver lambda gt10 cDNA library and subcloned into Bluescript SK-. This clone, designated X1 gamma 3, contains the entire 3'-end and lacks 38 bases at the 5'-end of gamma mRNA. The deduced amino acid sequence at the N-terminal is compatible with a signal peptide of 20-23 amino acids, in agreement with the calculated size of the frog gamma chain signal peptide. Following the signal sequence is a region of highly conserved amino acids that participate in disulfide bond formation critical for the maintenance of tertiary structure in mammalian fibrinogen. The gamma cDNA clone was used to measure gamma mRNA in purified Xenopus liver cells treated with glucocorticoids in primary culture.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Estrogen induction of a 45 kDa secreted protein coordinately with vitellogenin in Xenopus liver

In the frog Xenopus laevis, vitellogenin is the major estrogen-induced protein in the liver. We have characterized an additional secreted protein, of 45,000 Da and designated Ep45, which is also responsive to estrogen treatment. Like vitellogenin, Ep45 is not normally found in the plasma nor synthesized by the liver of the male frog. Its synthesis increases 6-fold between days 2 and 8 following a single 2 mg injection of estradiol-17 beta. For comparison, we have also studied a third estrogen-regulated protein, Ep20, with a molecular weight of approximately 20,000. This protein exhibits a different set of characteristics with regard to hormone responsiveness. Ep20 is synthesized in the liver of normal males and therefore is not absolutely hormone-dependent. Its level increases only about 4-fold following estrogen stimulation. The messenger RNAs for both Ep45 and Ep20 have been identified and purified, using a high-resolution RNA fractionation technique. By this procedure, it was possible to demonstrate that following high doses of estrogen the predominant mRNAs in the liver are those coding for vitellogenin, Ep45 and Ep20. Thus estrogen suppression of virtually all other liver proteins appears to act at the messenger RNA level for intracellular as well as secreted proteins.